SEA urges alternative to cancelled Rank Awards

Sep. 18, 2013 - 06:00AM
|

The Senior Executives Association is urging the Obama administration to go forward with a replacement for this year's now-canceled Presidential Rank Awards for members of the Senior Executive Service. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

ADVERTISEMENT

The Senior Executives Association is urging the Obama administration to go forward with a replacement for this year’s now-canceled Presidential Rank Awards for members of the Senior Executive Service.

In June, the White House signaled that it would not issue the traditional awards, which carry bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars to selected executives and senior-level professionals, on the grounds that there were better uses for the money in the current budget climate.

With the end of the fiscal year approaching, this is normally the time when the president would approve the awards, based on nominations submitted by the Office of Personnel Management, SEA said in a Wednesday news release. So far, however, the administration has not develop any alternate form of recognition “to acknowledge excellence in the career executive service,” the association added. SEA, which represents career SES members, urged the White House to:

■ Host a meeting between the president and all Rank Award winners.

■ Provide awardees with a certificate or letter signed by the president.

■ Allow the OPM to publicize the winners’ names, while permitting agencies to honor awardees in internal ceremonies.

■ Confirm that the traditional Rank Awards program will resume once the sequester ends and assure recipients of this year’s “non-monetary awards” that they can be considered for a bonus in future years.